Feature Story
The Movement to... Bring Back the“ Medical” in Marijuana
by Clayton Stallings, The EVOLUTION Magazine
This June, as this magazine celebrates its six-year anniversary issue, I want to remind all our readers that our goal since day one of launching this free monthly publication is to continue to break the stigma of cannabis through health and wellness information, education, and community involvement. Before adult use passed, a medical marijuana card was required to purchase cannabis in Missouri, It was also required for license holders to provide health and wellness education and information through community engagement to sell their products.
Although adult use has significantly increased accessibility, one unfortunate drawback seems to be that many of those original health and wellness initiatives have been thrown to the wayside as an unneeded expense in a highly competitive adult use market competing over margins to survive.
“ I try to alleviate some of those concerns by letting people know their status as a‘ Patient’ is privacy protected and only used when needed to verify their patient status,” continued Martin.“ I also let them know that if they purchase even just a few times a month, a medical card will save them money through a much lower tax rate. Med tax rate is 4 %. Rec [ adult use ] is 6 % plus 3 % Local municipal tax, plus 3 % County stacked tax, equaling 12 %, an 8 % savings immediately for medical patients. Most dispensaries also offer steep discounts for medical patients. Medical Mondays at Kansas City Cannabis are 25 % off the total ticket for medical patients. That will save you 32 % off your purchase compared to a recreational consumer.”
The numbers, at first glance, compared to adult use and medical use sales from an outside perspective, would make most assume that there isn’ t much of a medical marijuana market. Numbers can sometimes be misleading!
As of May 14, 2025 the State reported:
● Total Active Patient Certs: 122,166( Increasing Patient Count 14 months in a row.)
● MO Total Cannabis Sales April 2025: $ 125.88 Million( Up from April 2024)
● MO MJ Cumulative Sales: $ 3.90 Billion( Oct 2020 thru April 2025)
● MO Adult Use, April 2025 Sales: $ 111.10 Million
● MO Medical Use, April 2025 Sales: $ 14.78 Million
There are many factors at play here that can skew those numbers, one of the biggest being the common misconceptions about getting your medical marijuana( MMJ) card that keep actual cannabis patients shopping through adult-use access.“ There is still the fear that the medical card registry is widely available to their employers or law enforcement, which is not true,” said Mitch Meyers, partner of Swade and Sinse cannabis companies. Others in the industry hear similar misconceptions on a regular basis, like Corey Martin, chief of staff for Kansas City Cannabis Company, saying,“ Many sometimes fear that they’ ll end up on a government watch list!”
Corey Martin, chief of staff for Kansas City Cannabis Company is happy to offer five dispensary locations within the KC metro.
( Photo, by Victoria Cromwell)
Although misconceptions of getting your MMJ card are still widespread throughout the state,“ Our medical patient cards have continued to grow in the state for the last 14 months,” said Meyers. The fact that those numbers are still growing in a robust adult use market that focuses mainly on high THC percentages is a true testament to the many license holders that are still sailing the health and wellness ships not only in their dispensaries, but through community engagement.
28 June 2025